Lamp shade



June 15, 1943. A. MILLER 2,322,045

LAMP SHADE Filed May 16, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 15, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE LAMP SHADE Alexander Miller, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 16, 1941, Serial No. 393,750

2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a lamp shade.

In the manufacture of lamp shades of the type disclosed herein, and more particularly the shades with pleated coverings, it has been customary to use a suitable frame, and to build up the cover therefor from a sheet of fabric or other sheet material to fit that frame and to pleat the material, and then to apply that shaped cover onto the frame and sew it in position thereon. Such mode of manufacture requires skilled workers for cutting the material into its proper shape and secure it in its pleated condition upon the frame; and it thus involves costly time and labor for completing such cover on the frame, and greatly increases the cost of the shade.

It is one of the essential objects of this invention to provide a really economical and also very desirable lamp shade, which is preferably accomplished by having the cover composed of strip material wound directly on the frame and including pleat means therein, so as to produce an attractive and genuine pleated effect, and at the same time to require a minimum of time and labor in its construction and thus produce an inexpensive shade.

A more particular object of this invention is to provide an improved and economically constructed pleated type of lamp shade wherein the shade cover is built directly on the frame by winding the material in strip form thereon and displaying pleat means therein, which is accomplished in the preferred form by doubling one edge portion and placing it so as to overlap the edge portion of an adjoining section of the strip, and thus provide a very economical lamp shade wherein the cover has a genuine pleated appearance.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing a pleated type of lamp shade, whereby the shade cover can be constructed directly on the frame by winding the material thereon in the shape of a strip or band, which may be a straight strip or in the form of a roll, and which is provided with one or more pleats, that may be formed thereon during the winding of the strip on the frame, or also prior thereto and before the strip is arranged in a: roll; so that very little time and only inexpensive labor will be required for producing the cover in its completed form on the frame.

These and various other objects and advantages are attained with this invention, as will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein the invention is shown in a few of its various preferred forms, it being evident that various other arrangements and forms of construction may be adopted for carrying out the objects and purposes of this invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a lamp shade embodying my invention in its preferred form, with parts of the trimmings broken away.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of my lamp shade partly constructed, illustrating an improved method of manufacturing the pleated cover on the frame, and showing the strip arranged in a roll and therefrom applied to the frame with one edge portion doubled under for a pleat.

Fig. 2A is a partial detail view showing this method as using the strip which was wound flat on the roll, and whereby the edge portion is then doubled or turned under during the act of winding the strip on the frame.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the shade during its construction, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, indicating the covering strip as consisting of fabric, which is the preferred material.

Fig.. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view, taken On line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

. Fig. 5 is a partial elevational view of a similarly constructed but simpler form of lamp shade, which does not present a fully pleated effect.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view thereof, taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a partial elevational view, showing such a cover closely pleated and wherein the pleat means in the strip includes the doubled edge portion and also a central pleat.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view thereof, taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a partial elevational view, illustrating another form of pleated and wound strip shade cover, wherein the edges overlap and a pleat is provided in the intermediate part of the strip.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view thereof, taken on line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9.

This invention presents an improved and attractive lamp shade and an economical method of making the same. The cover of each of these forms of lamp shades is composed of flexible strip material which is wound around the frame wall; and these pleated shade covers, as illustrated in several of the forms herein, each comprises pleat means which is readily produced and will provide a genuine pleated effect. Such pleat means may be produced in various ways; and may provide one edge pleat in the strip, as best shown in Fig. 4; or may provide a plurality of pleats in the strip, as best shown in Fig. 8; or only one intermediate pleat, as shown in Fig. 10.

In Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings this invention is shown in its preferred form of construction, along with the preferred method of manufacturing the same. This form of lamp shade comprises a cover II] which is composed of a strip II of flexible material having one edge portion I2 doubled and turned downward on the frame and overlapping an edge portion of an adjoining section or winding of the strip, as best shown in Fig. 4. Said strip II is wound in a continuous manner around the wall of a skeleton frame I3, so as to fully cover the outside and the inside of the wall, and to provide a genuine pleated effect thereby.

In making this lamp shade any suitable frame may be utilized, such as the skeleton frame illustrated herein which comprises several annular rings, as an upper ring I4 and a lower ring I5, and brace means or stays I6 connecting the same, thereby providing the annular and upstanding wall of the frame, which may be of the usual truncated conical or pyramidal form.

Cross-arms II extend inwardly from the upper ring I4 to a central collar I8, thus providing bracing and also means whereby to mount the shade on a lamp.

With my invention the shade cover In is built directly on such a frame I3, and the material used is in the shape of a comparatively long and narrow strip, and may be in the form of a band or ribbon or can be provided by cutting the strips of suitable size from a large sheet of the desired material. It may consist of one integral strip for one shade cover, or of several sections with their ends joined; but the strip material extends around the upright wall of the frame in a continuously wound manner. Such material used is preferably fabric, but it may also be of paper, plastic material, or other thin flexible material.

To facilitate applying the strip-shaped material to the frame, it is preferably arranged in the form of a roll 20, and the initial end 2| of the roll is secured to the frame, preferably to one of the annular members by means of a staple 22, or by stitching or other securing means. The strip I I in this roll may have its edge portion I2 doubled over first and being then wound in the form of a roll, as indicated in Fig. 2, to facilitate applying it to the frame; but the strip may also be placed fiat on the roll, as indicated by the roll 20' in Fig. 2A, and the fiat strip II may then have its edge portion I2 doubled or turned down while it is being wound around the wall of the frame; and this can be done by hand by the person making the shade, or also by the use of a suitable instrument at that time, thus turning said edge portion during the act of winding the strip around the wall of the frame I3.

This roll of strip material with its turned-over edge portion is then wound in a continuous manner around the wall of the frame, and as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 it is applied by unrolling the roll 20 around the outside and the inside of the wall to extend substantially upwardly and downwardly thereon, and so that the edge portion I2 is turned under and bears upon the underlying edge portion of the preceding section or winding of the strip, as best shown in Fig. 4.

This form of shade then appears as comprising a plurality of pleated sections or folds including pleated adjoining edge portions, and thereby provides an attractive, soft and genuine pleated effect.

When this winding or covering process is completed and the frame wall fully covered, then the applied material is cut off from the roll or from the remaining part of the strip of material, and the last or final section 23 of the several sections or windings of the strip II will have both edge portions doubled or bent under, as shown in Fig. 1. thus presenting a smooth and finished appearance. The final end 24 of the strip is then secured in position on the frame, as indicated at 25 in Fig. 1, by the use of stapling or the like; while the inner end 2I of the strip with its securing means 22 has been covered and concealed by the strip material, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The material used is of such consistency that the cover becomes non-transparent, and it is pref erably made translucent, as is most desirable with shades of this type.

Trimming means 26 and 21, such as braiding, bands or the like, may also be applied to the upper and lower end parts of the wall, as is customary; and herein such trimming means is moreover utilized to cover the final end 24 of the continuous strip of material and also the means 25 which secures said final end in place on the frame.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a slightly different form of shade cover, which is built in a similar manner to that disclosed above, but does not include the desired pleats. This cover comprises a strip 3I, of the material as disclosed above, and it is preferably applied from a roll 30 to the frame 33, by unwinding the roll around the frame Wall, as explained above, to have its edge portions 32 overlapping. However, in this form both edge portions are retained straight and lie flat upon each other; thus omitting the turned-over edge portion which is disclosed in the preceding form. This form of cover is very readily made, but it presents a somewhat flat appearance, instead of the soft and genuine pleated effect as is produced by the preferred form disclosed above.

In Figs. '7 and 8 a shade is illustrated with another form of pleated strip cover, wherein the strip or band 4| has a plurality of pleats and thus provides a closely pleated cover 40. Herein the strip M is preferably provided with a doubled or down-turned edge portion 42 and also with an intermediate pleat or fold 43, the strip being wound in continuous windings or sections around the wall of the frame 44, with said doubled edge portion 42 of one section overlapping the edge portion of an adjoining section, to fully cover the wall, as in the first described form.

In Figs. 9 and 10 is shown another form of pleated strip cover 50, wherein the strip 5| has its edge portions 52 retained straight, but the edge portion of one section or winding overlapping that of the precedin section and both remaining flat; but herein the strip includes a single pleat or fold 53 placed intermediate its two edge portions, and this strip with its pleat is wound in a,

continuous manner around the wall of the frame 54 to fully cover the same, and also provide a pleated strip cover on the shade.,

The lamp shades manufactured in accordance with my invention are very readily and economically constructed, and the pleated covers in their various forms all provide a soft and pleasing appearance and a genuine pleated effect.

I claim:

1. A lamp shade comprising a skeleton frame including an upstanding annular wall and a cover thereon, said cover comprising stripshaped flexible shade-covering material wound in strip form upwardly and downwardly around the outside and the inside of said wall in continuous windings with their edge parts overlapping and the inner end secured in position on the frame, each winding including a turned-under edge part which bears on an edge part of an adjoining winding, and means securing the end of the final winding in position, thereby fully covering the wall and providing a pleated shade cover thereon.

2. A lamp shade comprising a skeleton frame 10 including an upstanding annular wall and a cover thereon, said cover comprising strip-shaped 

